Hey sports fans! My round 4 game vs. Quantum Cyborg is at move 42 and going strong (sorry dferrantino!). I think it's been a really interesting game, lots of back and forth. I'm sorry to say that objectively QC's position is better at this point, but I am still hoping to swindle a draw.

I'm trying hard not to let you do that. This game has been difficult, both of us were pretty careful with our moves, it feels like 1 wrong move could swing the sides easily! (I had a few "oh shit!" moments like that already!) I hope we could play it out in time.

He's up by a pawn and I think his position is winnable, but I believe he lost his momentum when he blundered his rook (I was getting a bit miffed that he refused to match my repeated blunders). If we weren't sabotaged by the tournament directors, we might have had time to finish

I've got to say this though, you know when I told you I knew where I went wrong, it was 39. Bc7, because it allowed Qg5 followed by threatening checks along the dark diagonal. I realize this pretty soon after I made the move, I was too focused on trying to threaten your e5 pawn. So I ran our game thru an engine just now, and holy shit it says you had your draw at move 40!! And you still had it at move 41!

So both my 39th and 40th moves were mistakes, I didn't realize how bad my bishop maneuvering was!

Other than that, the engine says we've both made minor mistakes thru out the game, but nothing major until the end. There are a few more moves I want to bring up, like my 14. Qxg7 move and the possible e5 possible attempt at trapping my queen, will have to get to that later. Just wanted to get this off my chest

I've got to say this though, you know when I told you I knew where I went wrong, it was 39. Bc7, because it allowed Qg5 followed by threatening checks along the dark diagonal. I realize this pretty soon after I made the move, I was too focused on trying to threaten your e5 pawn. So I ran our game thru an engine just now, and holy shit it says you had your draw at move 40!! And you still had it at move 41!

So both my 39th and 40th moves were mistakes, I didn't realize how bad my bishop maneuvering was!

Believe it or not, I saw that! But I was still playing for a win. The point of 40. ... Nh5+ 41. Kf1 Nf3 is to get your king on the back rank. If you hadn't played Ba5 to control e1 (I was hoping you'd snatch the pawn with Bxa6), the rest goes:42. Bxa6 Qc1+ 43. Ke2 Qd2+ 44. Kf1 Qd1+ 45. Qe1 Qxe1+ 46. Kg2 Qg1#

I was quite put out that you didn't take the bait. It's so hard to play for a sure draw when there is a halfway sneaky suckout win possible!

I've got to say this though, you know when I told you I knew where I went wrong, it was 39. Bc7, because it allowed Qg5 followed by threatening checks along the dark diagonal. I realize this pretty soon after I made the move, I was too focused on trying to threaten your e5 pawn. So I ran our game thru an engine just now, and holy shit it says you had your draw at move 40!! And you still had it at move 41!

So both my 39th and 40th moves were mistakes, I didn't realize how bad my bishop maneuvering was!

Believe it or not, I saw that! But I was still playing for a win. The point of 40. ... Nh5+ 41. Kf1 Nf3 is to get your king on the back rank. If you hadn't played Ba5 to control e1 (I was hoping you'd snatch the pawn with Bxa6), the rest goes:42. Bxa6 Qc1+ 43. Ke2 Qd2+ 44. Kf1 Qd1+ 45. Qe1 Qxe1+ 46. Kg2 Qg1#

I was quite put out that you didn't take the bait. It's so hard to play for a sure draw when there is a halfway sneaky suckout win possible!

My Bb7 was never intended to attack the a6 pawn, that was just my diversion threat, my goal had always been the g4 pawn which was protecting your knight via Bc8 (with a possible dual threat to the e5 pawn from my other bishop). Your knight there was just too dangerous, I just didn't realize immediately how bad the situation I was in. Ba5 was essential, I had to defend first! (actually, I needed to do that the moment you did Qg5 after my Bc7 mistake to prevent the draw)

I think if I did Bb7 and then Bc8 first before Bc7 that may have been ok. Damn slight differences in move orders matter a lot! It appears mate threats are a lot easier to see than draw threats so I didn't immediately grasp the subtleties.

I was quite put out that you didn't take the bait. It's so hard to play for a sure draw when there is a halfway sneaky suckout win possible!

My Bb7 was never intended to attack the a6 pawn, that was just my diversion threat, my goal had always been the g4 pawn which was protecting your knight via Bc8 (with a possible dual threat to the e5 pawn from my other bishop). Your knight there was just too dangerous, I just didn't realize immediately how bad the situation I was in. Ba5 was essential, I had to defend first! (actually, I needed to do that the moment you did Qg5 after my Bc7 mistake to prevent the draw)

I think if I did Bb7 and then Bc8 first before Bc7 that may have been ok. Damn slight differences in move orders matter a lot! It appears mate threats are a lot easier to see than draw threats so I didn't immediately grasp the subtleties.

That is the trouble with you higher-rated players. You can't be counted on to grab free material. Take the pawn. IT'S FREE don't you know what free means jeez COME on.

No but that's a good learning experience for me. I was looking for you to either grab material or play an obvious threat. The quiet positional move is what dashed my chances. I should be happy to draw when I'm two pawns down and my king's safety is questionable. Next time I'm materially behind with only speculative winning chances I'll take the draw when it's there -- probably.

Yeah, my knight was a monster, so good I sac'ed my white-squared bishop to keep it. I spent the first half (at least) of the game terrified your knight would come to d5. I was super happy to trade it off, thought the bishop pair was worth the price. I was aiming for a knight vs. bishop endgame since I knew my knight would be a great piece. Then I risked the bishop on that chancy h-file threat and... oops looks like I'm getting both barrels from the bishops after that.

I was quite put out that you didn't take the bait. It's so hard to play for a sure draw when there is a halfway sneaky suckout win possible!

My Bb7 was never intended to attack the a6 pawn, that was just my diversion threat, my goal had always been the g4 pawn which was protecting your knight via Bc8 (with a possible dual threat to the e5 pawn from my other bishop). Your knight there was just too dangerous, I just didn't realize immediately how bad the situation I was in. Ba5 was essential, I had to defend first! (actually, I needed to do that the moment you did Qg5 after my Bc7 mistake to prevent the draw)

I think if I did Bb7 and then Bc8 first before Bc7 that may have been ok. Damn slight differences in move orders matter a lot! It appears mate threats are a lot easier to see than draw threats so I didn't immediately grasp the subtleties.

That is the trouble with you higher-rated players. You can't be counted on to grab free material. Take the pawn. IT'S FREE don't you know what free means jeez COME on.

No but that's a good learning experience for me. I was looking for you to either grab material or play an obvious threat. The quiet positional move is what dashed my chances. I should be happy to draw when I'm two pawns down and my king's safety is questionable. Next time I'm materially behind with only speculative winning chances I'll take the draw when it's there -- probably.

Yeah, my knight was a monster, so good I sac'ed my white-squared bishop to keep it. I spent the first half (at least) of the game terrified your knight would come to d5. I was super happy to trade it off, thought the bishop pair was worth the price. I was aiming for a knight vs. bishop endgame since I knew my knight would be a great piece. Then I risked the bishop on that chancy h-file threat and... oops looks like I'm getting both barrels from the bishops after that.

I've learnt in my years that "free" always comes with a price lol

And I was always thinking about Nd5 if you ever did e5! I thought for a long time if I should do Qxg7 since trapping the queen was pretty risky. If you did e5 to trap my queen, my next move would have been Nd5! My queen at d4 was pretty vulnerable, I felt like I could easily lose the initiative when you chase it. Good job in keeping the initiative for most of the game!

Also, you made it hard for me to castle long too! Whether to castle long or short was something I was debating until you forced the issue.